People tend to perceive information in different ways and this has an impact on how we learn. For example, some people are visual learners, they learn better if they can “see” the information. Other people may learn better through hearing, or touch. Although each of us is able to learn through all of the different learning styles, a person will learn and retain information easier through their learning style. Most people will learn through more than one learning style, however, they will learn best through a specific style. This is not to say the will not combine different ways of learning, for example, although someone may learn best through seeing, they may find that both listening to a lecture and seeing the words together provide the best way for them to learn

First of all, you need to know the energy that flows in your classroom. Some classrooms have a very hyper and enthusiastic energy, and other classrooms have a very dry, tired, and negative energy. If your classroom is hyper, then you need to have lessons that are not going to increase that energy because it will make the students uncontrollable. The real challenge is for those who have dry and tired energy from their students. If you realize that your class is always “spaced out” or constantly tired, then you need to think of a lesson plan(s) that will be energized and modern. After determining the energy of your class, it is a good idea to observe about five to six of your colleagues. Try to observe them on the days that they will be teaching the material that you intend to teach. While observing your colleagues, take notes. Take notes on their techniques, methods, teaching approaches, and the colleagues’ energy and personality. Also, take notes on the students. Take notes on how the students respond to the teacher or professor. When you take notes on the students, you will be able to see what works and what does not work from your colleagues. When your observations are done, talk to your colleagues. Ask them questions. Ask them why they use the techniques that they use. Ask them what inspired their lesson plan. Ask them how long they have used the method and lessons that they use. Ask them what they did previously and why they changed it. Ask them if they notice an increase of student success with the lessons that they use. Be sure to review all of your notes. Review your notes on your colleagues, and review your notes on the students. Take everything that you liked from each colleague and put it down on a list. Take everything that you did not like and disregard it. While reviewing what you liked from each colleague, ask yourself, “why did I liked these elements, and how can I incorporate them into my lesson plan?” Finally, put them all together. Take each little thing that you liked, and put all the components together. Be sure that all of these components are intertwined smoothly. When you are putting everything together, you have to ask yourself, “How can I make all of this my own, but still keep what I liked?” Or ask, “What new things can I bring to all of these components to make it one lesson plan?” When you take a little of each lesson that you observed and put it all together, you can come up with something original. You can come up with something that is modern, new, and will hold the students interest, while they are learning at the same time.

the fisrt impression is crucial in establishing rapport with your students. I always have my student to introduce themselves in the class and tell me a unique thing about him/herself. In thefirst meeting I refrain from lecture and spend a good amount of time to know my students.

It is vital to have a comfortable furniture and decoration of the classroom for the students. I can call a few things which can enhance the student's participation and attention. A seat that is comfortable with plenty of room and space, may seem unimportant. But an uncomfortable place distracts the stuedt, causes early fatigue, and depletion of energy.

To be able to motivate the students, I think the instructor needs to be motivated. If the instructor shows a desire to improve and is excited to teach,the students is influenced positively. Positivity invites positivity. An astute instructor tries to motivate his/her student every day.

I teach basic English classes and occasionally have students who literally cannot read or write. These students have difficulty doing even basic assignments because they can't read/understand the directions. Of course I always read the directions and do examples with the class but only five weeks to cover course requirements and twenty plus other students to monitor as well, I feel like there is little, if any, chance for these students to succeed. Does anyone else encounter this situation? What are your strategies for helping these students?

I teach in the evenings. How do you keep from loosing students attention as the night goes on.

What are some other ways to test when teaching trades. (HVAC Hands On)

you should always ask question in class, to see if the students are following you .. and to see if on are on the same page.

every students have there way of learning, and its up to the teacher to find that out to teach in there level

any ideas for testing but in a fun way.... ?

Sometimes I have a class that ends on a Thursday night. While grades are not officially due until Monday at noon, it is preferred that grades are in by Friday afternoon so Monday morning reports can be run. Under these circumstances, whenever I have given a test that includes a written component, I work frantically to "power read" and grade the essays. Then, I am upset with myself for not giving a Scantron test. Any ideas how to include and grade a written assignment under sever time constraints?

"That wasn't flying. That was...falling with style!" --Woody from *Toy Story* The Instructional Style portion of this module was particularly helpful. You can really pick up on the level of involvement from your students when you alter your Instructional Style (for the better). I have found that having a certain amount of flexibility and adaptability in the classroom will make the students more likely to learn what you are teaching them. For instance, I recently did a lesson explaining what a thesis statement is, how they function, why we use them etc. Well, the students nodded and said they understood the material. When I asked them to apply their skills, many of them couldn't produce valid thesis statements. To counter this, I wrote a "formula" on the board (position on argument + reasons = thesis statement). Then I asked the students, one-by-one, a variety of questions. They ranged from "Who is a better baseball team, the Yankees or the Red Sox, and why?" or "Who is a better rapper, Eminem or Lil Wayne, and why?" It took no time at all for them to come up with valid thesis statements with the formula and subject matter they were confident with. Once they realized they had the tools to complete the thesis statement assignment, they were all able to produce good material. It just goes to show that being able to make a unique and flexible Instructional Style is a valuable asset for instructors of all kinds. Has anyone had any similar experiences? Or have any suggestions on how to keep your Instructional Style "fresh"?

We are having more and more students coming out of high school with learning disabilities, as an instructor understanding how to address their special leraning need was not a easy task, but once I understood that not everyone leran the same method I talk you sit and listen, it became easy for me learning other ways to aide in reaching a level of understanding for each student.

By using life experience, in general life shoudl always be about learning, being that we all have different backgrounds

Putting studnts in groups is a great way to increase retention and motivate the students who have a hard time with understanding, or who just sit in class and don't ask any questions.

Good communication skills are the key to your students understanding, what the lesson is all about and what they should be learning.

The 6Ps expresses it best-purposeful prior planning prevents poor performance. By this the instructor is connected to the course material as well as to the needs of the students in relation to their learning styles. Planning and Preparation also aides in determining when to appropriately implement supplemental material that will keep the students abreast of their selected career field.

I realize sometimes we have very technical material to present to a class that can oftentimes be boring and difficult for students to learn. What do you do to hold students’ attention in a live class? I will, at times, make some kind of surprising noise, like ringing a bell, or blowing through a recorder or harmonica, especially before we take a field trip. I am not musically inclined, but this gets them laughing, as well as getting their attention. Then, I can proceed with the presentation.

Using formal assessment to measure student knowledge can come at several different points during your course plan. Assessments preformed before a course, while you are teaching the course and after you are finished teaching the course are all valid and helpful to a teacher, yet each serve different purposes. Understanding each assessment type is important to helping teachers fine tune their teaching skills. It can be beneficial for a teacher to give a student an assessment before teaching a new course. This will help the teacher know what information the students already know about the subject to be studied, and help the teacher focus her lessons. This type of assessment is generally done through class discussion.